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Linux Conf 2006 and NZ thus far.
Finally I have a moment to make an entry!
Firstly, Linux Conf has been absolutely incredible. Five hundred of the best deep-geek Linux heads from around the world visiting my favourite town on the planet. Local Melbourne lad Justin Goodwin gave a great presentation on VoIP and Asterisk, albeit he was a bit late getting started ;-) Andrew Tridgell made everyone "ooh" and "ahh" with the latest implementation of SAMBA.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
strangedave would be interested that Chris Cormack of Koha gave an excellent presentation. Thomas Lange made eyes blink with a (albeti basic) Debian installation of under three minutes thanks to FAI. Matt Brown and Jamie Curtis explaining how some of the most remote schools in NZ have been given broadband thanks to Linux. Also managed to attend the entire two-day sysadmin miniconf which was excellent value also.
But apart from the Linux Conf there's been the NZ journey itself. With rats under the good care ofrhaspodical78, beagl and kimeros proved to be great hosts once again on the first night. Palmerston North was as exciting as always ;-) although the experience of having my first birthday (well, second I suppose) with my biological mother was pleasant enough, even if she can drink me under the table and has the proto-fascist tendancies so typical among the middle-class value set.
Post-birthday boozing consisted of the journey down the east coast of the South Island. On the ferry journey to Picton we watched the first Narnia film which was nice without being particularly impressive in any way.caseopaya picked up some more shoes from a trade-me seller in Blenheim (by the gods, what is it with women and shoes? :p) and we stopped off near Kaikoura to get up close and friendly with some sea lions; until of course they decided that under 2 metres was a little too close and gave me a warning bark and showed it's impressive set of teeth. Following overnight in Ch-Ch, we spent some time among the rather impressive historic warf region of Oamuru before reaching Dunedin.
Dunedin has really stolen the show for impressiveness.caseopaya is getting to see all the sites, whilst I've been stuck in a geek conference, but that's OK. We've managed to eat out at the extremely impressive deco Savoy Italian and the just-opened and the Chinese Blue Sky restaurants. Late evenings walking the hills of the region has been worth the views, both of the harbour region and of the solid local real estate. The economy here is bubbling along nicely, student numbers at Otago University is increasingly solidly and I've just come back from a visit at the local MPs office. All this as New Zealand establishes itself as the top nation for environmental action.
Meanwhile around the world, Conservatives can take little joy in winning the Canadian election. As a minority government with no natural allies they'll be out the moment the Bloc and the NDP say so - and this is a good opportunity for the Liberals to get their house in order. John Howard makes the remarkable claim that there is one right and nationalistic version of Australian history - which historians overwhelmingly think is ridiculous. Finally, Google acts against the cause of freedom but in favour of capitalism; in China of course.
It's not exactly news, but I've just been shown Mark Braund's article on how to abolish poverty. Read it.
Firstly, Linux Conf has been absolutely incredible. Five hundred of the best deep-geek Linux heads from around the world visiting my favourite town on the planet. Local Melbourne lad Justin Goodwin gave a great presentation on VoIP and Asterisk, albeit he was a bit late getting started ;-) Andrew Tridgell made everyone "ooh" and "ahh" with the latest implementation of SAMBA.
strangedave would be interested that Chris Cormack of Koha gave an excellent presentation. Thomas Lange made eyes blink with a (albeti basic) Debian installation of under three minutes thanks to FAI. Matt Brown and Jamie Curtis explaining how some of the most remote schools in NZ have been given broadband thanks to Linux. Also managed to attend the entire two-day sysadmin miniconf which was excellent value also.But apart from the Linux Conf there's been the NZ journey itself. With rats under the good care of
rhaspodical78, beagl and kimeros proved to be great hosts once again on the first night. Palmerston North was as exciting as always ;-) although the experience of having my first birthday (well, second I suppose) with my biological mother was pleasant enough, even if she can drink me under the table and has the proto-fascist tendancies so typical among the middle-class value set.Post-birthday boozing consisted of the journey down the east coast of the South Island. On the ferry journey to Picton we watched the first Narnia film which was nice without being particularly impressive in any way.
caseopaya picked up some more shoes from a trade-me seller in Blenheim (by the gods, what is it with women and shoes? :p) and we stopped off near Kaikoura to get up close and friendly with some sea lions; until of course they decided that under 2 metres was a little too close and gave me a warning bark and showed it's impressive set of teeth. Following overnight in Ch-Ch, we spent some time among the rather impressive historic warf region of Oamuru before reaching Dunedin.Dunedin has really stolen the show for impressiveness.
caseopaya is getting to see all the sites, whilst I've been stuck in a geek conference, but that's OK. We've managed to eat out at the extremely impressive deco Savoy Italian and the just-opened and the Chinese Blue Sky restaurants. Late evenings walking the hills of the region has been worth the views, both of the harbour region and of the solid local real estate. The economy here is bubbling along nicely, student numbers at Otago University is increasingly solidly and I've just come back from a visit at the local MPs office. All this as New Zealand establishes itself as the top nation for environmental action.Meanwhile around the world, Conservatives can take little joy in winning the Canadian election. As a minority government with no natural allies they'll be out the moment the Bloc and the NDP say so - and this is a good opportunity for the Liberals to get their house in order. John Howard makes the remarkable claim that there is one right and nationalistic version of Australian history - which historians overwhelmingly think is ridiculous. Finally, Google acts against the cause of freedom but in favour of capitalism; in China of course.
It's not exactly news, but I've just been shown Mark Braund's article on how to abolish poverty. Read it.
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*hug*
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Ta muchly... *hugs* returned.
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Rotten buggers have moved to story to the archive where you have to "buy it for a small fee". :(
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Now give it a go... I had a couple of extra words on the link, silly me.
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I love the fact that the term "coalition of the willing" has cropped up again, as if there's a band of tough resistance fighters out there ready to fight the good fight.
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Yeah, I noticed that as well. The war on terrorism and the war on history. Interestingly, according to the Wikipedia article on the subject "The precise origins of the phrase are unknown, but it has been used since at least the late 1980s to refer to groups of nations acting collectively without regard to United Nations opinion."
In this context who could consider it a group of cultural activists who act collectively without regard to history. We hope for a similar sort of defection over time; and a similar sort of response by "insurgent historians".
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History is written by historians, not leaders.
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Does that include looking for the dates on photos of children overboard, or checking a comcar schedule to see whether it's a forgery? No wonder he's against it.
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Perhaps he considers those 'objective achievements'.
Heck, he won an election from it.
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Yes, the idea of history as a 'structured narrative' really hit me as well. This is dangerous nonsense, it attempts to convert the mish-mash of history, with all its twists and turns, into a work with aesthetic consistency.
In other words, John Howard wants an Australian Bible story.
And so...
Un patriotic hackers want to know...
Happy Birthday bro, I am glad you're enjoying the very choice LCA06.
Re: And so...
You bet I have. Indeed there are no less than four properties than I am now showing more than passing interest in.
We're missing you down here y'know..
Re: And so...
Don't make me laugh/cry... by all account s it's the best LCA for years.
Re: And so...
Well considering that Van Jackobson received an encore and a standing ovation, one has to be impressed.
Email me off-list about the real estate stuff...
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Near my mother's parent's place, up near the bay of Islands in Manganui, there is a beautiful long beach. There is a development happening on the hill overlooking the beach. A monolithic condo will be built stretching along the whole hill, with a private walkway coming across the road and down onto the sand.
The community is going crazy, the thing will look ugly as hell and will completely change the village. Not to mention the private walkway being built on public land. There are a number of protests happening - the most effective of which is an unofficial campaign on the part of local maoris. Every time they build something, someone comes along in the night and knocks it down.
This sort of thing is going to get worse. Some say it's the price of progress. I think NZ is progressive enough without destroying its most precious resource - natural beauty.
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I have no idea what this means!
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"Is that more serious than Christmas?"
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I am so glad it's not about getting amorous with a birthday cake!
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Er... Thanks.. (What the hell is that X-Ray?!? That cake is pure calcium!)